Fern G. Z. Carr

FERN G. Z. CARR is a former lawyer, teacher and past President of both the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Project Literacy Kelowna Society. A Full Member of and former Poet-in-Residence for the League of Canadian Poets, this Pushcart Prize nominee composes and translates poetry in six languages including Mandarin Chinese. Carr has been published extensively worldwide from Finland to Mauritius and has had her work recognized by the Parliamentary Poet Laureate. Other honours include having been cited as a contributor to the Prakalpana Literary Movement in India as well as having had her work taught at West Virginia University, set to music by a Juno-nominated musician, and featured online in The Globe and Mail. Her debut poetry collection, Shards of Crystal, was released by Silver Bow Publishing in November 2018. Carr is thrilled to have one of her poems currently orbiting the planet Mars aboard NASA’S MAVEN spacecraft. www.ferngzcarr.com

Winter Solstice

Fern G. Z. Carr

(Winter, 2019)

Myriad crystals

of diamond lace

scintillate

in winter's chill –

filigrees

fluttering

onto the wings

of a black-capped chickadee

perched on a branch

of a frosted evergreen,

one foot tucked inside

downy fluffed feathers.

The arboreal meek

hold a vigil below –

a disquieting portent

of icy claws

poised

to demand ingress;

a bleak harbinger

of winter’s wrath

and a revelation that

while nature

waits in darkness

through solstice

and season’s might,

until rebirth

in the springtime

we are all asleep

in the night.